Noons: ‘I Always Wanted Diaz’

Ultimatums have been a regular occurrence during K.J.
Noons(Pictures)’ tenure with EliteXC, says the
160-pound champion.

At least one of those demands found its way into the public forum
last week, when an EliteXC employee reported to the media that
Noons had been given a 24-hour deadline to accept a rematch with
Nick
Diaz(Pictures) for an Oct. 4 live broadcast on
CBS.

Noons and his manager, Mark Dion, had been negotiating a new pay
scale for the bout for over a month, and talks had reached a
stalemate. But now the 25-year-old fighter’s courage and heart were
suddenly thrust into question.

With the deadline come and gone, Noons will not be defending his
title against Diaz on Oct. 4. From the look of things, Noons isn’t
quite sure he’ll be fighting for the promotion ever again -- but he
does knows that at no point did he ever not want the fight out of
fear.

“I always wanted to fight Nick Diaz(Pictures),” says Noons. “It’s the most
marketable fight for me, the best style fight for me. I think the
fans want to see it. But you have to pay for something you want to
see.”

Noons is not afraid to admit that his compensation was at the root
of the breakdown between his reps and Pro Elite, the struggling
parent company of EliteXC, ShoXC and a handful of other promotions
scattered throughout the world.

“It is about the money and how they were paying somebody I already
beat three times more,” says Noons.

The San Diego resident says he’s made approximately $83,000 in two
years and four fights. Diaz received $60,000 for his third-round
bashing of Thomas Denny(Pictures) on July 26 in Stockton,
Calif.

A lot has changed since Noons joined the Pro Elite stable in early
2007.

Eighteen months ago, Noons (7-2) was a hot prospect for the
debuting promotion, touted by former EliteXC Live Events President
Gary Shaw as a double threat. Noons says Shaw, already an
established boxing promoter, signed the son of accomplished
kickboxer Karls Noons to separate contracts in both combat sports.
But good will quickly began to unravel following Noons’ inaugural
run in the EliteXC cage against Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett in
February 2007.

“I think the relationship kind of went sour when I fought ‘Krazy
Horse’ and I lost,” says Noons. “After I lost, I know I was put on
the black list. It became all about ‘Krazy Horse,’ which is fine
because he won, but it was nothing on me.”

Noons -- who was surprisingly knocked out in the first round --
requested a rematch with the gold-toothed Bennett but said the
promotion turned him down. Instead, the Hawaii native was steered
toward the main event of the first ShoXC “Elite Challenger Series,”
a sub-promotion that would spotlight up-and-coming talent.

Noons felt a sense of demotion in more ways than one.

“I wasn’t going to get paid what was on my contract. They were like
‘Hey, we’re gonna lower your pay, put you in the main event, and
you really need this fight, but we’re not going to budge –- you’re
gonna take it or leave it’ type deal,” he said. “There was an
ultimatum: ‘Either you fight, you take this or we’re not going to
even fight you.’”

“Why would you put your friend’s son on a main event against
someone that you didn’t think you could build him up against?” asks
Noons.

Despite stopping Berto in the third round with a blunt knee, Noons’
doubt in Pro Elite led him and his manager Dion to request a
non-title fight against Diaz for their November 2007 encounter in
the hopes of hitting the free market afterward.

On the third and final bout of his contract, Noons says EliteXC was
eager to re-sign him beforehand, but only if he’d fight Diaz for a
newly created 160-pound title. However, the pay scale offered for
the inevitable champion was too low, particularly with fight
bonuses.

“They gave me options to buy stock, which I would be in the hole
with now if I bought them,” says Noons. “It came down to an
ultimatum again. It was either ‘take this fight or nothing.’”

Noons signed a new agreement in May, but a clause was added that
forbid the promotion from speaking directly with the fighter
regarding negotiations.

Noons impressively defended his title in front of his hometown
Honolulu crowd last June with a 48-second knockout of the more
seasoned Yves Edwards(Pictures) (34-14-1), though he says the
treatment he’s received as EliteXC’s champion –- from being denied
extra event tickets for relatives to getting passed over for
marketing opportunities -- has been less than encouraging.

In July, Pro Elite presented Noons’ manager Dion with the Diaz
rematch, after an in-cage tussle at the Hawaii event between the
two fighters sent interest in the bout skyrocketing. Noons and Dion
already decided that now was the time to make a stand.

“It’s been such a grind and I don’t know why. I wanted the Diaz
fight, but it was about little things in the contract at the time,”
says Noons. “It was about a few things I wanted taken out of the
contract that broke the deal and couldn’t make the Diaz fight
happen.”

Noons didn’t specify what details he wanted extracted from his
contract, though his disdain for elements within the agreement are
obvious.

“It’s like if you don’t take the fight, they can extend your
contract by their own discretion,” he says. “They can keep on
extending your contract. There’s a championship clause, where you
can’t get out unless you lose.”

Though he hasn’t spoken with Pro Elite executives directly, Noons
has often stood next to his manager Dion and listened in on phone
calls with the organization. In recent weeks, he says the calls
have included threats of litigation.

Noons says he still has at least one to two fights remaining on his
existing contract, though recent public filings revealed that Pro
Elite is more than $55 million in debt. Meanwhile, Shaw -- who was
downsized to the role of consultant for EliteXC in June -- has yet
to deliver on three of the four boxing matches he promised Noons in
his contract, says the fighter.

What course this impasse takes in the next few weeks or months is
not certain. Jeremy Lappen, EliteXC’s Head of Fight Operations,
said last week the promotion was undecided on the promotion’s next
course of action with its wayward champion.

Noons seems to have already made up his mind though.

“I can guarantee you that for MMA, I won’t be sitting on the
sidelines,” he says. “I want to continue with my dream of pursuing
two sports.